I think a lot of people have substituted social media to get the recognition, attention, relevancy and affection that they lack offline.
In the real world, most people are irrelevant. Nobody cares about them. Nobody cares who they are, or what they want or what they think they deserve. These people have found solace on the internet. Some of them have discovered like minds on online forums. Others have found fans on social platforms.
Nobody cared who these people were until they appeared on the internet.
On the internet, they have now found people who like them, listen to them, understand them, support them, fall in love with them, and engage in romantic and sexual conversations with them. People whose marriage lacked romance now have multiple affairs online. People whose opinions were scoffed at and ridiculed are well respected armchair philosophers and scholars online. People who were despised by family, friends and colleagues now have hundreds of fans online. People who were called ugly have thousands of worshipers online. People who'd never been asked out on a date are now bombarded by hundreds of messages online.
The internet gave meaning to the lives of people who were nobody. Now they're somebody. Even though they're useless to those around them, they're special and valuable to strangers living thousand of miles away. That's why the internet is so addictive.